Eddie walked across the road and disappeared into a mini-mart and then came back carrying a six-pack of beer. He got in the driver’s seat and handed the beer to Houston. “I gotta say, I didn’t think she’d start crying. I thought she’d jump down my throat when I said the Child Services bit.”
“She ain’t as tough as she thinks she is,” said Houston.
“Was she on something?”
“Heroin, I bet.”
“You think so?” Eddie asked.
“My ex-wife couldn’t quit that shit,” Houston said. “I can tell pretty easy.”
Eddie sighed.
Houston opened one of the cans of beer. “You know, I even ironed this shirt. I thought I might have a shot with her. I could move in next door. I’d kick out Curtis. And then Russell and the old lady would move in with you, and suddenly I’d about have my own place. I’d be set.”
Eddie laughed and started the van.
The house on the National Register was done and he and Houston packed up the ladders and did the last walk-through and Eddie received the final check. They drove to the next house, a west hills home, a money house, and unloaded their gear and left it on the side of the garage. Eddie deposited the check, gave Houston his eighty-dollar weekend allotment, dropped him back at his car, and drove home.
When he got there, the Le Mans was gone.
He let Early out and opened a beer. He smoked a cigarette, finished the can, and called the police. When he hung up he walked next door to find the side door open again. He called inside and the old woman again yelled from her room. She was sitting in the same chair in a housecoat reading a book. She hadn’t seen Russell or Curtis.
The police came an hour later and Eddie filled out a report. Afterward he sat outside and drank beer and barbecued chicken. He cooked beans, made a salad, ate, and then smoked more cigarettes and drank more beer and worked on a bid down the street from the National Register house. After that he went to bed.
His phone woke him at midnight. The police had found his car. It was left in the middle of an intersection downtown. They had apprehended four people and his car had been towed to a police impound lot. He hung up the phone and went back to bed.
He woke early the next morning to let his dog out and saw Russell sitting on the lawn chair. His face was beat up. Both his eyes were black, and his little nose was swollen.
Eddie told him to come inside and wait in the kitchen. He went to his bedroom and dressed. When he came out, Russell was on the kitchen floor petting Early.
“Can you still chew with your face that beat up?”
The boy nodded.
“I’ll make pancakes,” Eddie said. “You want bacon with them?”
Russell again nodded.
Eddie started the coffee and bacon and fed Early. The boy sat at the kitchen table and remained silent as Eddie made the pancakes and then set the food on plates and sat down.
“Let’s eat first,” Eddie said. “We got some talking to do but that’s hard on an empty stomach. You probably didn’t eat last night, did you?”
Russell shook his head and tears welled in his eyes but he ate the breakfast. When they’d both finished, Eddie put down his fork and pushed his plate away. “Let’s go outside so I can smoke,” he said and they went out and sat across from each other on lawn chairs.
“So what happened?”
“He stuck my head in the toilet,” Russell whispered. “Until...until I told him where you kept the key to it.” He began crying so hard he was barely understandable. He gasped. “I’m sorry...I’m sorry...I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” Eddie said. “I would have told him too. Take a breath.”
Russell wiped his eyes and tried to breathe. “I told him where the keys were, but I didn’t think it would start. I thought the switch would be on but it wasn’t.”
Eddie blew out a plume of smoke. “I must have left it off. I was tinkering on the car the other night and I must have just forgot. So then what happened?”
“When it started, I was like, Oh no, and then Curtis made me go with them so I would be blamed too. He drove out near the river and then we went downtown. Burny and Josh were in the back and Curtis was driving too fast and you said that the engine was old and needed to be driven slow. But Curtis wouldn’t listen and then we came to that big intersection that has all those different lights and streets. We came to the middle of it and I reached down and hit the kill switch.”
“You hit the kill switch?” Eddie said and laughed.
“I did,” Russell said. “’Cause you’re my best friend.”
“What happened?”
“Curtis knew I did something but he didn’t know what. So he just started hitting me. He hit me over and over, and Burny and Josh were laughing and cars were honking. I guess there were cops nearby ’cause they came and saw Curtis hitting me and then Curtis tried to hit one of the cops and then they knew the car was stolen and they took us away. My mom came and got me, but she left Curtis there.”
“All that really happened?”
“I’m not a liar anymore.”
Eddie nodded.
“Do you want me to leave now?”
Eddie shook his head. “I can’t believe you risked your life for a piece-of-shit old car.”